The Mastermind is worth seeing if you want a crime film that cares less about the cleverness of a theft than the damage its failure leaves behind. Kelly Reichardt puts the heist near the beginning, then watches amateur art thief JB Mooney struggle through the consequences. Josh O’Connor leads a deliberately patient film that may frustrate viewers looking for caper-movie momentum—but its slow drift is the point.
What is The Mastermind about?
Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt, The Mastermind is a 2025 feature set in Massachusetts around 1970. Josh O’Connor plays JB Mooney, an unemployed carpenter who attempts to steal paintings from a museum. The plan is no masterstroke: the heist goes wrong, and the film’s attention shifts to Mooney’s unraveling life.
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That shift distinguishes the film from a conventional caper. Reichardt described it to BFI as “more of a coming-undone film than a heist film.” The crime is a starting point, not a puzzle the movie wants you to admire or solve. What matters is how Mooney handles the consequences—and how his choices expose the gap between the ingenious criminal he imagines himself to be and the hapless man he is.
Is The Mastermind based on a true story?
It has a historical point of departure, but it is not presented as a literal retelling. BFI reports that the 1972 Worcester Art Museum robbery helped inspire Reichardt’s film. In that real crime, two men stole four paintings in broad daylight; BFI describes the robbery as clumsy, a quality echoed in the film’s small-scale, imperfect theft.
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- The Mastermind [DVD]
The dates differ: the film is set around 1970, while the Worcester robbery took place in 1972. Reichardt told BFI, “Those thieves stole masterworks. Our guys steal Arthur Dove paintings.” The connection is an inspiration, not evidence that JB Mooney or the film’s specific events recreate the historical case.
Does the slow pace work?
The film’s unhurried approach is a deliberate choice, and its effect depends on what you want from a crime story. Reichardt gives actions room to unfold rather than trimming them into quick plot points. That can create tension from waiting, watching and noticing small shifts in Mooney’s circumstances. It can also feel slow if you expect a heist film to keep escalating through twists and close calls.
Rank #2
O’Connor defended that observational approach in an Associated Press interview, arguing that cinema should allow viewers to stay with an action rather than cutting from its start straight to its result. Reichardt told AP that she wants to preserve the time to look at an actor’s performance and resist pressure to cut faster. In The Mastermind, the pauses and mundane details are part of the storytelling: the film asks you to observe a man’s decline, not simply follow the mechanics of a crime.
The heist’s early placement also changes the genre’s usual promise. Reichardt told the Criterion Collection that the screenplay “no longer has a structure to follow after the first quarter. From a heist movie, it kind of organically turns into another genre.” That looseness gives the film room to become a character study, though viewers who want a tightly engineered plot may find its drift less satisfying.
Rank #3
- Josh O'Connor, Alana Haim, Sterling Thompson
Performances, setting and production
O’Connor anchors the film as Mooney, while the ensemble includes Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann, Jasper Thompson, Sterling Thompson, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen, Matthew Maher, Rhenzy Feliz and Bill Camp. The story’s period atmosphere is not built only from costumes and props: BFI reports that the production shot primarily in and around Cincinnati, Ohio, despite its Massachusetts setting. A library in Columbus, Indiana, designed by I. M. Pei, stood in for the fictional museum exterior.
The film also carries the unsettled backdrop of its time. BFI describes the story’s 1970 setting as a period when protest movements from the previous decade were still active. Rather than turning that context into a tidy explanation for Mooney, the movie keeps its focus close to his decisions and the world those decisions disturb.
Who is in The Mastermind, and how long is it?
The Festival de Cannes lists the film’s runtime as 110 minutes and names Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, John Magaro, Gaby Hoffmann, Jasper Thompson, Sterling Thompson, Eli Gelb, Cole Doman, Javion Allen, Matthew Maher, Rhenzy Feliz and Bill Camp among its cast.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can you watch The Mastermind?
Viewing availability depends on region and changes over time. Rotten Tomatoes lists a limited theatrical release date of October 17, 2025, and a streaming date of December 12, 2025, and names MUBI as distributor. Check a current local listing or service catalog for where it is available to watch now.
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One related read
For a glimpse into O’Connor’s preparation, Reichardt told AP she asked him to read Joan Didion’s essay collection The White Album while preparing for the role. It is contextual reading connected to the performance, not an official companion book.
Verdict: who should watch it?
See The Mastermind for Reichardt’s patient observation, O’Connor’s portrait of a would-be criminal losing control, and a crime story more interested in aftermath than mastery. Skip it if your ideal heist film is propelled by an intricate plan and rapid-fire turns. The film’s reward is subtler: the slow, uncomfortable spectacle of a man discovering that a botched crime cannot be neatly left behind.
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